


To House A Wolf-child

by SecondStarfall (beantiger)



Series: The Second Starfall Stories [23]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Aunts & Uncles, Baby Werewolves, Castles, Creepy, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Family Angst, Fantasy, Flash Fic, Gen, Knights - Freeform, Medieval, Microfic, Newborn Children, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Orphans, Royalty, Sisters, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Werewolf Children, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22415641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beantiger/pseuds/SecondStarfall
Summary: "Yes, you can tame her. Raise her among the dogs or among nobility. Just give her a life! Not mine."***A werewolf, stricken with guilt, leaves her child with its only relative.
Series: The Second Starfall Stories [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582975
Kudos: 5





	To House A Wolf-child

**Author's Note:**

> This is a version of the original Twitterfic, same title, posted over at my now-deactivated personal account in January 2020. It has been given fairly moderate edits for consistency with other stories and readability on AO3. ❤️
> 
>  **RECOMMENDED RE-READING:** I introduced Jeunesse in ["A Wolf Knows Much."](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22372318)
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨

The hounds in the royal kennel screamed in fury. Their mistress, crossbow in hand, sidled out to the hallway. As she recovered from her dream—in which the whole kingdom of Althussant celebrated her as a glorious knight—she stood between crazed mastiffs and hunting-dogs. They foamed at the mouth in their individual units on both sides of her. Their paws slammed against the paneling, frenzied. The commotion vibrated deep in the mistress's chest.

Then she focused her eyes, and mind, to examine the cause of the cacophony.

"Don't bother," said the woman at the end of the hall, shaded in night. "The guards are indisposed at the moment, though they'll recover. I didn't hurt them too much."

The mistress of hounds raised her crossbow, but noticed the cooing bundle of blankets in the intruder's arms. 

"Yes, yes, I have a cub with me, a newborn. Let's start there," the woman said.

When she stepped closer, the mistress examined her: the wind-burned skin, the perpetually crestfallen expression. The deep creases in her forehead and around her eyes—her golden eyes. 

"Wolf," said the mistress, simply.

"You are Delphine Hugo, sister of Sophie, yes? Good. This is your niece."

"If you are seeking sanctuary, wolf-woman—"

"Sanctuary for the cub only."

Oh.

The child looked exactly like Sophie. Delphine took the little one into her free arm as the wolf-woman pressed nearer. Same hair, same dimples. Just those damned golden eyes.

With a clatter, the crossbow fell to the ground.

As the hounds continued to cry around them, the mistress Delphine thought: _I could kill this beast. To hang her head on the wall would garner me a greater title, I'm certain._

Bolts tipped with silver glittered on the walls back in Delphine's chambers...

Yet she scrutinized the wolf-woman's face and could not bring herself to complete that idea.

"Sophie is dead," said the mistress of hounds, the realization coming over her like a wave.

"Thank you for relieving me of saying it. Yes: in childbirth. I had nothing to do with it."

"The king Alexandre will not house a wolf-child within—"

"Yes, yes, I realize. But the cub is your niece. And you are human, though you are not acting very much like one right now, or perhaps exactly like one," said the wolf-woman, her voice strained.

"You think I could raise—"

Shouting, now, from outside the kennel.

"Yes, I do!" the wolf-woman snarled. "Yes, you can tame her. Raise her among the dogs or among nobility. Just give her a life! Not mine."

"Wolf—Jeunesse—"

Something seemed to snap within the wolf-woman Jeunesse, and she stared back at Delphine, her eyes shimmering with tears. Then a sickening series of cracks sounded, louder than the dogs' barking, and—

A wolf, big as a draft-horse, darted from the kennel—

And as the newly-awakened guards rushed in, disoriented, Delphine Hugo stood alone with the infant. She tried, and failed, to find a sense of mourning. Her sister Sophie had chosen that creature over their family, long ago.

A guard called out, "Mistress Delphine?"

The hounds soon quieted, though they would shake in fear for days after. Meanwhile, the babe slumbered in Delphine's arms, apparently unperturbed. Good.

"I've given birth," she responded. "Please get a surgeon...and a mage. I am not well. I didn't know."

Delphine crouched to pick up the crossbow and retreated to her chambers.

A tamed wolf...

That seemed worthy of knighthood, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or a kudos or whatever the heck if this tickled your fancy. There shall be more! ❤️ Also, please let me know what other characters, relationships, or places you'd like to hear about. I have lots of ideas, but I'd enjoy writing a few stories for y'all as well.
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY:** More about Jeunesse and Simone and Delphine and Sophie coming soooooon. I really do wish my energy levels could keep up with my inspiration! I'd love to churn out two stories per week, but my brain and body are not in cooperation.


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